It’s a Wonderful Life: or is it?

The Hollywood drama “It’s a Wonderful Life is rated as the most inspirational American film of all time.

Plot (spoiler alert)

The lead character, played by James Stewart, is a man named George. George is a deeply troubled man who wants to end his life because he feels he is worth more dead than alive. As he stands on the bridge about to jump, he meets Clarence, his guardian angel, who takes George on a journey through his life.

Clarence wants to show George what the world would have looked like if he hadn’t been born. Along the way, George sees the important part he played and how many people he touched on a personal level.

As the film ends, the town’s people celebrate George’s life and he realizes that he truly has a wonderful life.

What’s the moral of this film?

George’s touching story highlights two important and very applicable themes in your own life: reflection and planning.

Reflection

Throughout the year businesses go through phases of auditing, annual reports, analysis and conclusions, budgeting, forecasting, measuring performance over the last 12 months and analyzing the results against business goals set at the start of the financial year.

What about doing this for yourself?
If, like George, you were given a chance to look at the first half of this year, what would you have done differently to satisfy your achievements?
How would you rate your performance?
How does it compare it to any goals you set for yourself?

In your work life, you spend every day pushing your client’s or employer’s business to the next level.
What principles do you follow to gain progress for your professional or personal life?

There is much truth in sales guru Zig Ziglar’s famous saying: “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time”.

You know that some things work, and others don’t.
What one thing can you identify that you applied this year because you realized it “just worked”?
How honest are you about any real goals that you set for yourself in the past year?

An often-cited definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
If, at the end of each year or period, you feel you’ve achieved nothing, it’s impossible to be satisfied and fulfilled.
If you continue with the same patterns, you’ll end up feeling much as George did: hopeless, helpless, and aimless.

So what can you do about it?

My research revealed that just 3% of people take action after receiving motivational guidance. Three percent!
Think about it: when did you actually act on that powerful nugget of inspiration that rang so true at the time?

Instead of reading all the self help books on the market or listening to all coaching and mentoring podcast, stop when you read a passage or hear something that rings true and touches you.
Implement that!
What value could that have?

Planning

This year does not need to look like last year.

As your planning gets underway for the new financial year or period, what would you do if you knew your Clarence would be visiting Christmas time?
What do you want to be able to look back on?

I’m certain you’d prefer to meet Clarence while you’re relaxed and happy in some exotic location, and not a cold hostile bridge.
You’ll probably want to welcome him into your growing group of friends.
Or maybe you’ll want to show him around your new, bigger business premises after a bumper year.
Perhaps you’ll want to single him out of a crowd as you take on your first major speaking engagement.
Regardless of where you meet, I’m certain that you’ll want to be filled with passion, zest and successful enthusiasm.
If you know what your meeting with Clarence looks like, you can plan the journey to get there.

Goal + Action = Success

After all this time, you should know the drill. If you don’t have a goal, you can’t take any action. And without action there is no chance for success.

Your Challenge

I dare you to upset the statistics for last year and the year before and the years before then even.

I dare you to take action to reach those higher levels.

I dare you to lead the way in living the life you were destined to live.
To live the life you really want to be living.

So, today, write down your personal and professional goals.
Start sharing them with friends and family.
Know that by the end of the year, when Clarence comes around, you’ll, with conviction, be able to say: “It’s a wonderful life”.

As published in leading business journal Accountancy SA.